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Lucy Claridge, Head of Law at MRG, travelled to Burundi in December 2009 to further investigate a Batwa due process/land rights legal case that was proceeding but delayed at the domestic level. Lucy's trip included meeting with the Batwa community in Mutaho, meeting a local lawyer, collecting statements and evidence, assessing the merits of the case and considering next steps. Contact For more...

Armed conflict has left an estimated 2 million people displaced in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Among the worst affected are Bambuti Pygmies who, since being forced to leave their homes, have suffered repeated displacement. A joint mission by the Congolese Network of Pygmy Organizations and Minority Rights Group International in September 2009 found how, despite the presence of UN peacekeepers, they...

The author of this series “Refugee-mothers, Georgia, 2008” is Mariam Amurvelashvili – a Georgian photographer. This photo series won 1st prize in an international photography competition “The socio-economic situation of women from Central Asia and Eastern Europe” carry out by KARAT Coalition. Those photos depict women in the refugee camps in Georgia after military conflict between Georgia and Russia in 2008. As a...

Since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, minority communities, some of whom have lived in the country for more than two millennia, have faced targeted persecution including kidnapping, rape, murder and destruction of homes and businesses, because of their ethnic and religious identities. They form a disproportionate amount of those who have fled to neighbouring countries in Jordan and Syria, and those who...

The Republic of Azerbaijan, formerly the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan is composed of main minority groups of Lezgins 178,000 (2.2%), Russians 141,700 (1.8%), Armenians 120,700 (1.5%) In addition to this, Azerbaijan has a large number of smaller minorities, each comprising less than 1 per cent of the total population, including Turks, Tatars, Ukrainians, Georgians, Kurds, Jews, Udins and Tsakhurs. To date Azerbaijan...

Dalits, or Harijans, are a caste within India that are regularly alienated and ostracized as a result of their low status in society. There are currently more than 166.6 million Dalits living in India, the majority of whom live in extreme poverty. Within this minority, Dalit women are in particular danger as they occupy the lowest wrung of the socioeconomic ladder in...

As part of Minority Rights Group International’s Trouble in Paradise Campaign, MRG staff members Emma Eastwood and Neil Clarke traveled to Kenya in October, 2008 on a fact finding mission examining the effects of tourism on indigenous communities. Information collected on this trip went on to inform MRG’s efforts to encourage a symbiotic balance between eco-tourism and the preservation of minority peoples...

In September 2009, MRG Conflict Prevention Head Chris Chapman traveled to Kampala, Uganda, and Nakuru, Kenya to meet with CSO representatives working on issues of conflict in the regions. These projects are in collaboration with CECORE and Endorois Welfare Council (EWC), holding training workshops on peace building and conflict resolution. Between these training sessions, Mr. Chapman traveled to the Endorois and...

The film is a product of Cicsero, the Independent Roma News Agency of Cserehát run by local Roma people in Hungary. The current report is about a football match in Halmaj, Hungary between Roma and non-Roma Hungarian football players. The match was organised as a symbolic answer to the racially motivated killings of Hungarian Roma in 2009, with the intention to express unity against...

A report shot and edited by Cicsero - Viktor Siroki, Péter Siroki and Laci SirokiThis film is a product of Cicsero, the Independent Roma News Agency of Cserehát run by local Roma people in Hungary. The current report is about local Roma grabbing the very little job opportunity in Cserehát, the most marginalised region of Hungary. They collect cherry in a nearby village as...

One of five hard-hitting short films featuring interviews with Iraqi asylum seekers and refugees from minority communities including Mandaeans, Yazidis and Assyrian Christians, made by independent filmmaker Ben Crowe (www.erafilms.co.uk) and MRG in Sweden, August 2008.The films were shot in conjunction with research interviews that took place for the MRG report "Uncertain Refuge, Dangerous Return: Iraq's Uprooted Minorities" (launched 24th September 2009).About the films:Since...

This film is a product of Cicsero, the Independent Roma News Agency of Cserehát run by local Roma people in Hungary. The current report is about Bódvalenke, Hungary which has become known as a Fresco Village. A village in the most marginalised region of the country has been turned into a touristic sight by a group of activists and Roma painters. The film was...

For many years the Tonga people (a semi-nomadic people) lived peacefully along both sides of the Zambezi River in North-Western Zimbabwe. They cultivated alluvial soils based on recession agriculture which depended on the flood regime of the river. The Tonga people could harvest crops twice a year and were seldom afflicted by hunger and famine. The river valley provided them with wild animals as...

The Basubiya are a rivering community (banoka in Setswana) found along river banks of the chobe. They have many cultural festivals where they sing and dance. They share similar attributes with wayeyi of the Okavango Delta, like what they eat and their lifestyles.The Basubiya wear two piece clothing called mushishi. When they dance they move the waist either way to throw the ‘skirt’...

Lentswe La Batswapong is an organisation that represents the Batswapong minority group. Its main aims are to advance the aspirations and be the mouth piece of Batswapong in different spheres. The organisation aims to make the views of Batswapong known not only to the Government but to the world at large. The aims are:1. to show case the cultural aims of Batswapong 2....

The Ovambanderu Community in Botswana originated from Namibia and settled in Botswana in 1904 after there were displaced by the Germans who colonised Namibia. The Community is widely spread across Botswana with the majority of them residing in the North Western part of Botswana and symbolised by their unique attire. As a result of their migration from their native land and influence...

The Wayeyi are a rivering community found along river banks of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. They have many cultural festivals where they sing and dance. The Wayeyi wear leather dresses called mojamboro. They also wear dresses called mawayawaya which are made using reeds. The Wayeyi have many different dances, namely matoti, kharakhara and mudokota.The staple food is called mwende (tswii), a delicious...

From October 7th- 8th 2009, Center for Biodiversity and Development (CBD) coordinated with People Committee in 4 communes in towns including Binh An, Duong Hoa, Binh Tri and Kien Luong to organize the community workshop “Conservation and Sustainable Development at Krast area in Kien Luong district” in Kien Luong district, Kien Giang province of Mekong Delta, Vietnam. This workshop was funded by the...